The Seahawks and 49ers are 14-14 during the regular season. They’ve played 22 of those games since 2002, when the Seahawks joined the NFC West and began playing the 49ers twice each season. The first meeting was Sept. 26, 1976, the third game in Seahawks history. The 49ers won, 37-21, at the Kingdome.

Playoff history

The teams have never met in the postseason.

Key player

The 49ers, like the Seahawks, have a first-year starter at quarterback. Colin Kaepernick, in his second season, took over for Alex Smith in midseason. And like Seattle’s Russell Wilson, Kaepernick adds a running threat at the position. Another similarity: Kaepernick, like Wilson, was a high-school baseball star, drafted by the Cubs in 2009 after his third year as Nevada’s quarterback.

Key to the game

The 49ers scored the same amount of points in each of their two games against Seattle, though the results were drastically different. That speaks to the evolution of the Seahawks offense because while 13 points were enough for San Francisco to beat Seattle back in October, it wasn’t even close the second time around. The 49ers are advised to put the spurs to a running game that logged 175 yards rushing in that Week 7 meeting against Seattle, including 92 from Frank Gore in the second half alone. The 49ers ran for 82 yards as a team in Seattle on Dec. 23.